“That would make you happy.” I glance over his shoulder, but Kaleigh is busy teasing a man at the bar. “I have other things I should be doing right now.”

Griffin steps into my path when I try to step around him. “What things do you have to be doing right now? It looks like you came here alone.”

Kaleigh peels herself away from the bar, two shots of an amber liquid in her hands.

“I’m here with a friend from work.”

He gives me his crooked smile, and my heart skips a beat for just a moment.

I’ll blame my reaction on the alcohol for tonight. In the morning, I’ll wonder whether I'd lost my mind when I looked at him.

“Cora, you don’t have friends.”

Kaleigh steps around him, shoving the shot into my hand.

My glare doesn’t leave Griffin as I toss the shot back, the alcohol burning on the way down. “I’m officially off the clock, and you’re not my boss right now, so understand I mean it when I say piss-off.”

I shove the shot glass into his hand before taking off to dance.

The numbness in my feet is forgotten as I weave through the crowd, finding a spot to dance. Kaleigh joins me a moment later, a wide smile on her face.

She takes my hand, spins me around, and pulls me back against her. I tilt my head back, moving my hips to the beat of the music.

Kaleigh dances with me for a few songs before leaving with a man. I keep dancing, determined to dance away every lousy feeling since the breakup with Victor.

Another song starts, and the people around me shift slightly. That’s when Griffin appears through the crowd, his cheeks flushed and his jaw flexing.

He stops in front of me, looking like an avenging angel. “That’s it, Cora, I’m tired of the shit going on between us. You’re barely civil at work, and the only reason I haven’t fired you yet is because your brother told me that I had to keep you employed.”

Though I knew Jake had gotten me the job, I didn’t think he had forced Griffin to keep me employed.

I’m a good employee, though. Despite disliking Griffin, I go above and beyond at my job.

There isn’t a better option if I want to pay down the debts.

Although, putting up with Griffin Blake will send me to an early grave.

I stop dancing, blood boiling in my veins. “Fire me then.”

Chapter two

Griffin

Fire her. The thought had never fully crossed my mind. I was going to threaten it tonight just to get a rise out of Cora, but she beat me to it.

As she stands in front of me with a defiant tilt to her chin, I want to fire her just to prove a point.

Cora tosses her raven hair over her shoulder, blue eyes narrowed. Even the freckles across her cheeks seem to blaze with life as she takes a step closer to me.

She pokes a finger into my chest. “If you want me to leave your company, just fire me.”

I grab her finger and pull her closer, heat radiating between us. “And what if I did fire you right now?”

She smirks and snatches her hand back, though she doesn’t bother to move away. “I'd probably be better for it.”

“If I got rid of you, I could hire someone capable of doing their job—maybe someone who actually liked me and the work.”

Cora takes another step closer, and all I can focus on is the way her body is nearly pressed against mine. “Fire me or don’t, but I’m here to have a good time tonight, and I’m going to have it one way or another.”